Weli-sinking apparatus



M. T CHAPMAN.

WELL SINKlNG APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILEDJUNEI0,1918.

1,343,902, ,Patented Jun@ 22, 1920.

l UNITED STATESPATENT OFFICE.;v

MATTHEW T. CHAPMAN, or AiIRoRA,v ILLINOIS, AssIGNoRTo THE AMERICAN WELLI WORKS, or AURORA, ILLINOIS, AOORPORATION or ILLINOIS.

wELIk-SINIIING APPARATUS.

` is a specification, reference ,being had to the accompanying.drawings. p

This invention relates to improvements in apparatus for sinking orboring. holes in the earth to a considerable depth for the" formation ofwells for procuring water, oil,

gas, Snc., and has for one of its objects to provide animproved.construction of drill tool that is peculiarly well. adapted toutif lize small and hard particles Aof material as an effective aid inthe boring operation, such small hard particles of material beingvinsome instances such as are broken from the hard strata through which theboring is be ing done, and in other instances being material dropped infrom above for the eX- 'press purpose of coperating with the drill tocut and grind away the bottom and sides of the hole. Another object ofthe invention is to so construct the drill tool that as it wears away inuse such wear will be of a'.

character that will tend to preserve a cut-l ting edge even up to thetime that the drill has been worn away by attrition so that it is but asmall portion of its original length. These objects I accomplish asillustrated in the drawings and hereinafter particularly described. Thatwhich I believe o be new will be set forthv in the claims.

In the drawings, v Figure 1 is a view partly in side4 elevation andpartly inA vertical section of the 'mechanism for rotating thedrill-carrying ipe, and showing also a side elevation o my. improveddrill at the bottom of a hole that has been formed by it; Fig. 2 is aVertical central section through the drill shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a bottom view of. the drill.

Referring to the several v figures of the 10 indicates my improved drillwhich is adapted to be securedto thelower end of a line of boring pipe,such connectiongbeing effected in the construction shown by means of acoupling 11 that is screwed upon a neck 12 formed at the upper end ofthe drill and also screwed to the lower end 'of the line ofSpecification Of Letters 'Paten-t.

Application, med :une io,

yPatented June 22,1920. 191s. serian No. 239,295.

boring pipev referredto-such boring pipe being 1nd1cated by 13. Ifdeemednecessary,

the coupling may-be locked in place b any suitable ,means such' as a keyand s ot in v'order to prevent disengagement of the parts during thereverse rotation of the lboring pipe, as hereinafter described. Thedrill is formed vto provide two spiral flights, indi-7 catedrespectively by 14 and 15, which are each formed with a comparativelywide vertically-disposed falce adapted Lto present a broad bearingsurface to the wall of the hole being formed. These spirals terminate attheir lower cnds,.as clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 2, in flathorizontally-disposed faces .which results in the formation at suchlower en d of two sharp edge portions indicated by 16 and `17, Ysuchcuttmg edge' portions being so directed that when theA drill is rotatiigY i in boring direction, as indicated by the arrow on the boring pipe'inFig. 1, the loosened material from the bottom of the 'hole will be cutinto and directed up over such sharpened edge portions and, with thewater which is as 'usual forced under pressure down through the boringpipe, will pass up the in'clines afforded by the spiral flights 14 and15. 18 indicates openings-quite a. large number being shown-extendingthrough each of the fli hts, said openings being, as best shown in vig.2, inclined downwardly away from the outer rwalls of the flights.

These openings 18 are provided for the purpose of receiving smallparticles of the hard rgritty material which is broken off from the hardlayers or strata through which the drill progresses. Such fine hardparticles will pass down these Openings' and lodge beneath the end ofthe boring tool or drill and be by such boring tool or drill furthercrushed and rubbed around on the bottom,

and thus grind away the bottom of the hole immediately behind thecutting edges of the tool. In the vertical outer sidesof the spiralflights are formed a large number of slots 19, such slots being open attheir ends and gradually tapering from their upper ends to the lowerends. The object of these slots is to receive small pieces of the hardgritty substances that are broken'away during the boring operation andare carried up valong with the water under pressure. The

shape ofthese slotslarger at the top than at the bottonifacilitates theentrance 'at `their tops of these small hard gritty pieces and insurestheir retention in the slots. When so retained they serve as a` grindingmedium for rubbing and wearing away the wall of the hole being bored,and result in such hole being niade a little larger in diameter than thediameter of the drill, thus facilitating the more ready withdrawal ofthe drill Whenrequired for renewals or repairs, or when the boringoperation is coinpleted, and also preventing binding of the drill in thehole while heilig rotated.

' with or wholly prevent the desired passage of-water. At intervalsthere are formed through the drill transverse passages. indi-l` cated by19", which inteisect the longitudinal passage 19, these transversepassages being provided for permitting the water under pressure inthelongitudinal passage 19a to be forced out laterally to mix with andagitate the borings, and as it is desirable to have such water emittednear the lower end ofthe drill I provide plugs suchl as'19C for'stopping up any desired number of the upper series of transverseopenings 19h. As the drill wears away these plugs will be from time totime withdrawn so as to leave one or more openingg for the discharge ofwater near the part that is then the bottom of the drill.

Referring now to the mechanism through which the rotation of the boringpipe and its attached drill' is effected, and the support for suchmechanism,-20 indicates a frame of wooden beamsl as shown, or otherwise,upon which is supported a bed plate `21, such bed plate in theconstruction shown having formed with it brackets 22 whose outer, endsrest upon and are bolted to the framework 20. 23 indicates a largehorizontally-disposed rotatable ring gear which is secured upon theupper end of a short cylinder 24, which cylinder extends through a largeopening inthe bed plate 21. Be-

tween the ring 23 and the bed plate 21 areA interposed a series ofanti-friction bevel rollers'25, such rollers projectin into suitableraceways formed in the ower and upper surfaces of the ring gear and bedplate, respectively. Secured upon-the lower end of the cylinder 24 isanother ring gear indicated by 26, such latter ring gear being locatedbelow the bed plate. Both of. the gears 23 and 26 are shown as beingsecured to the cylinder 24 by being screwed thereon, which is aconvenient manner of attaching them to the cylinder as it facilitates,of

course, the ready assembling of the parts in' operative position. I haveshown no means for locking these gears to the cylinder, but

it will be understood that if found necessary oi desirable they may belocked thereto in any appropriate manner, as for example, in the mannersuggested 1for locking the coupling 11 to either or both of the partsthat it connects. "\The gear 23 is provided on its lower face withbeveled teeth 2T and the gear 2G has on its upper face a correspondingset of beveled teeth, indicated by 28, and with either of these teeth adriving pinion 29 is adapted to engage for producing the desiredrotation of the boring pipe and its attached drill. This bevel pinion 29is fast on one end of a shaft 30, upon the other end of which issuitably secured a driving pulley, which, in the form of conjecttruniiions 33 that are rotatably mounted in bearings V35 supported fromthe framework 20. 36 indicates collars ixedly se cured to the shaft A3()at opposite ends of the bearing 32, which collars hold-the shaft againsteiidwise movement. i

Any suitable means may be employed for lswinging the shaftBO to bringthe pinion 29 alternatively into engagement 'with either4 of the gears23 and 2G. In the constructionl shown I have provided for this purpose arock-shaft 37 having slightly offset end portions jouriialed instandards 39 rising from the frame 20. The rock-shaft 37 is connectedwith the shaft 3() by means of links 40 journaled at their upper ends onthe rock-shaft and pivotally connected at their lower' ends withtrunnions 42 extending laterally from a bearing 41 through which theshaft 3() passes. Upon a. partial rotation of the shaft 37 by any suitwable means about the axis dened by its offset portions, the shaft 30 isswung downward about 4the trunnions 33 serving to bring the pinion-29into mesh with the gear 26 in lieu of the gear 23 as thc parts are shownin Fig. 1. The gear 23 is thus 'capable of being driven in eitherdirection as may be desired,-in one direction .by direct contact withthe pinion 29 and in the other direction through the medium of thecylinder 24 and the gear 26. l

T he boring pipe 13 is adapted to be driven in either direction asdesired by the gear 23 by means of posts 48 rising therefrom andclamping mechanism 47 of any l.suitable type slidably mounted withrespect sinking rig `to said posts. In the construction shown, a

brace-ring 49 is mountedI on the upper end ,portionsof said posts'forholding'the posts in parallel position with'respect to eachl other. "1l' In connection with the description of the construction andAarrangement'ofthe parts,

the operation of the' variousfeaturesrentering into this invention` havebeen, toa considerable extent, described. Briefly sum-r theposition'show'n in Fig. 1, a rotation ofv the drive shaft 30 will, ashereinbefore described,v cause a rotation of the boring pipe and. itsattached drill, during all of which time water will'be forced from asuitablesource of supply through the boring pipe and drill. Some of thewater passing down the passage 19a of the drill will be forced outthrough the unstoppered transverse open-L ings 19-b and vwill wash upand agitate the crushed material causing it to fiow up theV spiralflights with the water, and where the material being bored through is ofa veryv hard, fiinty, or gritty character many'of .the small particlesthereof that are dislodged will enter theinclinedopenings 18 and workdown through the successive flights and be brought beneath the bottom ofthe drill, and their action is such as Vto cause a continued grindingand 'disintegration of the. material at the bottom ofthe hole with aresult that the hole is rapidly made deeper, and,"while a Wearing effectis also produced on the ma.- terial of the drill itself, such wearing)has been found to be of a kcharacter that preserves in a'large measurethe sharpened lcuttingv edges of the lowermos't turns of the ights. Inother words, the continued grinding effect of. the comparatively smallloosened hard particles between the bottom of thedrill and the bottom ofthe hole acts to rapidly wear away the 'material through which the drillis progressing,and, while also acting, but, of course, in a .very muchslower manner, to wear away the drilly itself,

such wearon the drill is behind the acting or cuttingedges ltr-17 of theflights and hence cutting edges "of the general character shown areeffectively maintained through- .out the life of the drill.vFurthermore, the

shape of the surface slots 19 is such that many particles of the veryhardl material thatare broken off from the various strata are caught andheld therein and serve as very effective abrading agents to contact andslightly but 'sufficiently wear away the aient NQ. 11,104,409,datedfJeiy;

side-'wall of the: hole, as hereinbefore de-ff.

scribed. .The character of thevarious strata through which the drill orboring tool passes in the making ofadeep wellvariesgreatly,

of course, audattimes` some of the strata gritty material to serve as anabrading or cuttlng means 'beneath and around the drill. In suchcasessuchv needed elements can be vsuppliedibyl dropping intothe holethe requisite quantity of'such material as, `for example, granite chips,gravel, -coarse sand,

crushed stond-chilled shot or crushed steel will not afford therequisite amount of hard l particlesindeed, any small hard substancethat can`be'\carried around with the boring tool and that' will servethe purpose of cutting andgrinding away the lbottom and sides of thehole.

In lthe operation of boring it will be foundof advantage to turn theboring tool backwardafew revolutions from time to.'

. time for forcing the'borings beneath the drill so that they 'may loeAmore, readily crushed, lrolled around and. washed outand up, this beinglattained by the shifting of the shaftBO as above described.

"It will also be necessa from time to time to raise and lower the drillin order to properly force beneath the 3drill. a quantity of theloosenedhard particles of material to be rolled and crushed so as toserve as a proper abrading means, but' I have not deemed it necessary toshow such raising and lowering' means. A construction for such purposewill be found fully illustrated and described in my said Letters PatentNo. 1,104,409...

The invention has been described more particularly in connection withboring oper- -ations conducted through strata of very hard materials,but the ap aratus will, of course, be' equal effective 1n strata ofdifferent characte and without the employment of much, if any, of thehard particles 'mentioned I might also mention that when The angle ofthe flights 14 and 1,5 may be j con- I A varied within wide limits 'fromthat shown' to better adapt the drill to differin ditions or to conformto theideas o individual users.

The slots 19 may, if desired, extend only partly 'across theedges of theflights, being -.the' space between adjacent portions of the groove ofSubstantially the same width vertically as that of the groove. lnasm'uchas this form of drill is very heavy and durable and may be producedreadily by casting with very little machine work necessary for,completing the drill, I consider this feature of my invention of veryconsiderable importance. ly making the spiral grooving of a depth ofapproximately oneth1rd of the diameter of the'drill, ample clearance `isafforded for the'escape of the dirt and rock torn loose during* thedrilling operation while at the same time thedrill presents to the wallsof the hole being boredsuch a surtace and masts ofmetal as to be capableof i long-continued use without replacement,

' ed to protect the drill and prevent undue particularly in viewof theadaptability of the device for carrying about with it the loosenedparticles of abrading material as is above described, such. materialbeing adaptwear. l

While I have shown the slots 19 wedgeshaped for better holding theparticles of abrading material in position on the face of the drill andprefer to employ this form, it will bevunderstood that Iv do not limitmyself to the use of this particular form except-as hereinafter.specifically claimed,

the provision of shoulders or ribs in the pej riphery by means of theseslots being of importance for carrying the particles of abradingmaterial about withlthe drill whether or not the slots tapertoward theirllower ends. l/Vhat Iclaim as my invention and desire to secure byLetters atent, is-

1. A rotary well-boringdrill comprising a flight having means in itsedge for receivingv and retaining small hard particlesV so that theywill project from such edge and act against and wear away the wall ofthehole being bored.

2. A rotary welllboring drill comprising a flight having means in its ede for receiving and retaining small har particles so that they willproject from such edge and act against and wear away the wall of thehole being bored, in combination with means for conducting water underpressurev to the bottom of such hole whereby some of such hardsubstances as have been loosened by the action ofthe drill will beforced up the flight and caught and held`by said retaining means.

3., A rotary well-boring drill comprising a flight having means in itsedge for receiving and retaining small hard particles so that they willproject from such edge and act against and wear away the wall of thehole being bored, the` spiral being also provided 'with openingstherethrough for conducting j small particles of hard material below thedrill to serve as an abrading means for wearing away the bottom ofthehole.

4. A rotary well-boring drill comprising a flight having means in itsedge for receiving and retaining `small hard particles so thatthey willproject from such edge and act against and wear away the wall of the4hole being bored,A the spiral being also provided with openingstherethrough for conducting small particles of hard material below thedrill to serve as an abrading means for wearing away the bottom of thehole,

each of said openings being inclined to di? -l with openingstherethrough for conducting small particles of hard materialbelow thedrill to serve as an abrading means -for wearing away the bottom of thelhole, in combination with means for' conducting water under pressure tothe bottom of such hole, whereby hard substances that 'have beenloosened by the action of the drill will be `forced up the flight andsome of the smaller particles thereof will enter said retaining means intheedge and other particles will pass down through said openings.

' 6. A rotary well-boring drill comprising a flight having aplurality ofwedge-shaped slots in its edge for receiving and retaining small hardparticles so that they will project from such edge and act against andwear away the wall of the hole being bored.

7. A rotary well-boring drill comprising a flight having a plurality ofwedge-shaped slots in its edge for receiving and retaining smallhardparticles so `that they'will pro' jectfrom such edge and act against andwear away the wall of the hole beingbored,

the flight ybeing also provided with openings therethrough forconducting small particles of/hard material'below the drill to wear awaythe wall of the hole being bored,-

the flight being also provided with openings therethrough for conductingsmall particles of hard material below the drill to serve as an abradingmeans for wearing away the -.bott om'of the hole, each of said openingsbeing inclined t0 direct the said particles back of the cutting edge ofthe drill.

9. A rotary well-boring'drill comprising a flight having its lower facesubstantially at right angles to the axis of the drill whereby, acutting ed e is formed on the lowermost.

turn of the ight, openings being provided through theflight for thepassage of particles of hard material 'to the bottoinof the hole beingbored to serve as an abrading means beneath the drill.

10. A rotarywell-boring drill comprising va flight having its lower face.substantially at right angles to the axis of the drill whereby acutting edge is formed on the lowermost turn of the flight,y each turnof the flight beingi provided with one or more inclined openingsVtherethrough to direct the passage ofparticles of hard material to thebottom of the hole being bored and in'rear of the said cutting edge,whereby such material will serve as an abrading means beneath the drilll'Y 11. A rotary well-boring drill comprising 'a ilight having its lowerface substantially at right angles to the axis of the drill whereby acnttingedge is formed on the lowermost turn of the flight, the` lighthaving .openings therethrough for directing particles of hard materialto the bottom of the hole being bored to serve as an abrading meansbeneath the drill, and the flight having indentations in its edge forreceiving and holding other particles of hard material that serve toabrade the wall of such hole.

12'. A rotary well-boring drill comprising a flight having its lowerfacesubstantially at right angles to the axis of the drill whereby a cuttingedge is formed on the lowermost turn ot the flight, the flight havingopenings therethrough for directing particles of hardmaterial to thebottom of the hole being bored to serve as an abrading means beneath thedrill, and the flight having indentations in its edgefor receiving andholding other particles of hard material that serve to abrade the wallof such hole, in

` combination with -means for conducting water under pressure to thebottom of the hole to force the borings up the flight and carry smallhard particles thereof to said openings and indentations. j

13. A rotary well-boring drill comprising a flight the lower face ofwhich has a sub.- stantial ly horizontal face whereby a cutting edge isformed on the lowermost turf; of the flight and having the several turnsof the flight Lformed with relatively wide edges that are` substantiallyparallel with the axis of Ytially in the formof a cylindrical .blockgroovedspirally in its periphery,` the space between adjacent grooveportions being of substantiallythe same width vertically as 4that of thegroove.

l5. A rotary well-boring drill substantially in the form of acylindrical block provided in its periphery with a plurality of spiralgrooves of substantially the 4same width vertically as that ofthe spacebetween adjacent turns-of said grooves.

16. A rotary well-boring drill substantially in the form of acylindrical block grooved spirally on its periphery to a 'depth ird ofthe diameter of approximately one-t ofl the drill, the space betweenadjacent groove portions being of-substantially as great widthvertically as that of the groove.

17. A rotary well-boring drill substantially in the lform of cylindricalblock grooved spirally in its periphery, the space between adjacentgroove portions being of substantially the same width vertically as thatof the groove, and the peripheryrof the drill f being provided withsubstantially vertically disposed shoulders between adjacent grooveportions for carrying about with the drill loosened particles ofabrading material.

18. A rotary well-boring drill. substantially in the form of a'cylindrical block grooved spirally in its periphery, the space betweenadjacent groove portions being of substantially the same widthvertically as that of the groove, said drill'beingA provided with alongitudinal conduit therethrough and diagonally disposed openings fromthe groove to said conduit for conducting loosened particles ofabradingmaterial to the bottom of the hole being bored.

19. A rotar well-boring drill comprising a flight, t e drill having aconduit extending longitudinally therethrough and opening at its lowerend in eccentric position withvrespect to the axis of the flight,

and also having `laterally-directed passages communicating with saidconduit between the several turns of the lli ht.

' MATTHEW CHAPMAN.

